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2010 Annual Meeting of the Association of American Geographers

April 14-18, 2010 - Washington, DC

Call for papers deadline extended to Nov 18, 2009!

Session "Urban Governance Concepts and Research in China - Adaptation or Application?"

Organizers: Prof. Dr. Uwe Altrock and Dr. Michael Waibel

Urban governance is an ambiguous concept that basically originates from the observation that a rather traditional analysis of political decision-making limited merely to actors in the local government overlooks the influence on other tiers of government and of semi-private and private actors such as universities, trade unions, private companies, NGOs and other associations etc. However, the emergence of the governance paradigm stands for a wider analytical perspective in policy sciences, too. Regarding governance theory as an analytical concept rather than the expression of an alleged globally changed reality opens the eyes for structural and personal forces that influence policy making that would otherwise be suppressed. Thus, adapting urban governance as a tool for analysis to the Chinese context (without using the term normatively) can be fruitful in organizing research and help to embrace the complexity of urban regulation processes. On the other hand, concepts developed mostly in a Western, i.e. often North American, scientific context adapted to China also reveal their limits. Especially, where private or semi-private organizations depend partly on the state and party structure, the foundation of common governance concepts is profoundly challenged. Therefore, the main aim of this session is to discuss challenges and constraints of urban governance research in China focusing on case studies from neighborhood and municipal level. It targets people who are interested in questions and issues of urban governance in China.